If there was any remaining doubt that this has been Amy Hunt’s summer, it was dispelled over 10 seconds of controlled fury at the European Championships, as Britain’s newest sporting superstar completed an unprecedented quadruple.
When the baton was slapped into the 24-year-old’s hand on the anchor leg of the mixed 4x100m relay, she was a fraction behind Gina Lückenkemper of Germany. But then Hunt became the hunter, and a record-breaker.
In no time those long legs began to whir, her vast stride started to widen, and she found her wings. First Lückenkemper was chased down. Then Hunt ran into history.
As she crossed the line, she stuck her tongue out, stretched her arms in triumph, then held four fingers to the camera. And just like that the Cambridge graduate had completed the quadruple.
“It’s just a dream come true – I’ll remember this week for the rest of my life,” said Hunt after becoming the first athlete in the 92-year history of the European Championships to win four gold medals in a single event.
To make things even sweeter, Britain’s time was a European record 39.97sec, with Germany taking silver in 40.11 and Spain claiming bronze.
“I think it surpassed my expectations for myself at these champs,” Hunt said. “Not in terms of not just the goals, but how I’ve handled myself, how I’ve handled the pressure, the attention, the recovery, the discipline of it all.”
“It was a bit like when you’re queueing for a rollercoaster and you’re a little nervous and you’re seeing the drops and stuff,” Hunt said when asked about the craziness of her past week. “Then when you get off you want to do it again. So it was that adrenaline kick certainly. I loved the event.”
To run seven races in seven days is difficult enough. To win all seven, across heats and finals, not only takes talent and guts but a hefty dose of chutzpah too.
But while Hunt certainly has main character energy she quickly ensured that her teammates – Jeremiah Azu, Dina Asher-Smith and Zharnel Hughes – were hailed as well.
“To do it all together is incredible, especially because that was the first time we did that changeover about an hour ago in warm-up,” said Hunt. “And look how smooth it was. Such professionals.”
It was hard to argue with that. This was the first time the mixed 4x100m relay has taken place at these championships and with the men and women alternating changeovers the difficulty level was increased to the highest. No wonder the Netherlands and Italy were disqualified. But Britain looked smooth throughout – at least to the untrained eye.
“I’m going to be completely frank with you, I was absolutely terrified,” said Asher-Smith. “When the gun was going, I was like ‘Dina, please relax, it’s only going to go well if you relax’. When I gave that baton to Zharnel, I was so happy, I can’t lie. That’s exactly how I feel. Very unfiltered. I was just like ‘get this out of my hand – bye’.”
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Hunt was not the only record holder on the night as Asher-Smith made it a record 11 European medals in total – surpassing Polish sprinter Irena Szewinska – with this victory.
“It hasn’t sunk in at all,” she said. “I just don’t think it’s something that when you start your career you ever think is going to be attached to you. Just want to run faster and get better. So I feel very humbled and blessed.”
“At this point in my career, I’m just having fun,” Asher-Smith said. “I’m just seeing what can be maxed out because I’m fortunate enough to stand on the line, and I don’t really have much to prove. I’d like an Olympic gold, but that’s kind of the only thing that’s on my bucket list.”
Earlier on Sunday there was more British success in the women’s marathon, as Abbie Donnelly overcame bringing different sized running shoes to Birmingham to take a surprise bronze medal.
However her race was saved when her boyfriend Shane dashed up in the morning with the right shoe. “I actually bought two different size shoes by accident to this race,” said Donnelly, who became the first British woman to win a European Championships marathon medal.
“I tried them on last night and I was like ‘the right one does not feel right’”, added Donnelly, whose time of 2:27.33 was just over five minutes behind Finland’s Alisa Vainio, who set a championship record.
“So then I had to call my parents and my boyfriend. It was half an hour beforehand that my boyfriend Shane put the [tracking] chip on because I was so flustered.”
Britain also won the women’s team event through Donnelly, Rose Harvey, Louise Small and Clara Evans-Graham, while Germany’s Amanal Petros took the men’s marathon in a championship record 2:09.11.